“Korean charts are completely ruined.”
Koreaboo
52 minutes ago
HYBE‘s rookie boy group CORTIS has become the center of another controversy after a post from its Chinese fanbase admitted to buying albums and mass-streaming to boost the group’s chart performance.
| BigHit Music
The debate comes after recent reports that two Chinese fans were arrested by the police after trespassing into the boy group’s residence.
Foreign Women Get Arrested For Trespassing Into CORTIS’s Dorm
In the statement, fans defended the larger Chinese fandom while acknowledging the amount of support they had given the group. Some of that support has been interpreted by Korean fans as an admission of rigging CORTIS’ placement in Korean chart rankings.
“We are CORTIS’s Chinese fans.
We spent millions buying albums, stayed up all night streaming their songs, and used our own money to help raise them to bigger stages.
Now, because of the actions of two criminals, does the entire Chinese fandom have to take responsibility?
We are angrier than anyone else at those two people who acted illegally.
They damaged our reputation and gave people an excuse to discriminate against the entire fandom.
But please be clear about this:
2 people ≠ 1.4 billion Chinese people
Criminals ≠ Chinese fans”
| X via Pann
While the statement was meant to separate the wider fandom from the two individuals accused of illegal activity, many Korean netizens focused on the admission that fans had stayed up all night streaming and spent large amounts of money to boost the group’s success.
The post quickly spread across Korean online communities, where many questioned how much fan-driven streaming and mass buying affect domestic music charts.
Some also argued that the issue goes beyond one fandom, claiming that overseas fanbases from multiple countries have influenced Korean music charts for years.
| Pann
- “Whoa.”
- “Because of Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Japanese otakus, the Korean charts are completely ruined.”
- “It’s probably not just China. Japan and Southeast Asia, too.”
- “What happened?”
- “Does anyone seriously not know SM started all of this? SM was the one who turned the charts into a mess in the first place, and now people are only criticizing CORTIS? LOL. Go after everyone. Melon has been full of viral marketing and streaming manipulation for a long time. How else would unknown groups suddenly make it into the Top 100?”
- “Well, I guess they have to convince themselves somehow. It’s the only way fans of those male idols from that company can cope after CORTIS completely crushed them. Fighting.”